Finishing devices such as car finishing brushes and polishing or buffing devices are extensively utilized in automatic car and truck finishing machinery of the type wherein remotely or automatically controlled equipment is used to wash, wax, polish or buff the surface of the vehicle. Conventionally, these finishing devices include a drum biased toward the vehicle, which drum rotates to cause finishing elements on the drum to wash, dry, polish or otherwise contact the vehicle's surface.
For many years these finishing drums have constituted brushes in that the drum was provided with a plurality of elongated flexible brush bristles, such as flexible plastic filaments, for finishing contact with the vehicle surface. However, many of the finishing devices have now eliminated the use of bristles, and in place thereof have substituted finishing elements formed from flexible cloth pads. In a finishing device of this type, the drum is provided with conventional mounting slots extending longitudinally along the periphery thereof, and each slot generally mounts therein a single finishing pad which is provided with an integral loop along one edge thereof. This loop has a suitable shaft or rod positioned therein so that the loop can be retained within the groove on the drum. The pad has a large number of parallel slits which project inwardly from the free edge of the pad so as to form a plurality of elongated flexible strips which effectively contact the vehicle surface to perform the desired finishing operation.
While the use of finishing elements formed as cloth pads has proven highly desirable with respect to the quality of the finishing operation which is performed, and also minimizes any undesirable marring of the vehicle surface, nevertheless these pads do experience substantial wear. In particular, the free ends of the flexible strips experience substantial wear due to their repetitive contact with the surfaces of vehicles, which wear ultimately causes several inches of the strip to tear off of the free end thereof. When this happens, then the strips no longer have sufficient length to achieve the desired finishing contact with the vehicle surface. Hence, this requires that the vehicle finishing apparatus be shut down and the finishing device disassembled to permit new finishing pads to be mounted on the drum. Of most significance, however, is the fact that the entire pad must be replaced even though only a few inches are worn off from the free ends of the strips. Since such pads are of substantial size, they are hence relatively expensive and thus significantly increase the cost of maintaining and operating such apparatus. For this reason, operators hence tend to utilize worn pads for longer periods of time than is desired, and this in turn results in a decrease in the efficiency of the finishing apparatus.
Accordingly, to improve upon the above situation, my copending application Ser. No. 599,407 discloses therein an improved finishing element, specifically a finishing element formed as a cloth pad, which can be readily adjusted in length to compensate for wear and hence overcome the disadvantages associated with prior devices of this type.
More specifically, this invention of my copending application Ser. No. 599,407 relates to a finishing apparatus for finishing a vehicle surface, wherein there is provided a movable support, such as a rotatable drum, having a plurality of flexible finishing elements mounted on and projecting outwardly from the periphery thereof. Each finishing element comprises a flexible cloth pad having a mounting portion adjacent one end thereof for securement to the support, which mounting portion preferably comprises a rod-containing loop positionable within an axially elongated mounting groove formed on the support. The pad, adjacent the one end, is provided with a plurality of mounting portions, such as a plurality of loops, which are disposed in spaced but parallel relationship. The innermost of the loops is initially positioned in the groove to provide a pad having the desired length. As the free end of the pad wears, this innermost loop is removed from the groove and the next loop positioned within the groove so that the length of the pad is increased to compensate for wear. If desired, the stitching or staples which create the inner loop can be removed so as to release the loop from the pad, and hence permit removal of the rod, which rod itself can be utilized in the loop which is positionable in the groove. Alternately, each loop can have its own rod initially stitched therein if desired. Hence, the service life of the pad can be significantly increased by providing the pad with three or four mounting loops to permit compensation for wear at the free ends of the strips. At the same time, the amount of material required to initially form the pad is only slightly increased so as to provide the additional mounting loops.
The present invention relates to further improvements in the finishing element of my aforementioned copending application, and more specifically relates to an improved finishing element of adjustable length which has the mounting portion of the finishing element formed of plastic or other suitable material which can be manufactured efficiently and economically, with the finishing-end portion of the element being constructed of a cloth pad. The finishing element still retains its desirable adjustability to compensate for wear, but at the same time enables the mounting and finishing portions to be constructed of different sheetlike materials so as to significantly increase the economy of manufacture and simplify the manner of use.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with apparatus of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.